FFW Makeovers at Kiehl's Uptown

Last night was the amazing makeover event at Kiehl's at Yonge & Eglinton. It was my first time there, although I've been to the one on Queen St. and yet to visit the new Yorkdale location which is slightly larger than the Eglinton one.

When I got there it was a few minutes passed 7pm and there were only about 5 other girls/women there besides the staff. They were getting their mini facials and there was no lineup, so I was waiting for my turn while trying a cupcake. But before I finished my cupcake and tea, a line had started with about 15 more people arrving, so I was 5th in line. Maybe I should have started the line, but oh well, I didn't wait too long for my turn.

The facial started off with an exfoliating cleaner put on my face & then i rinsed it off at the sink and had only massaged it a little since there were many people in line whereas at home I would take my time. Then the lady put moisturizer and eyecream on me. It was quite short but still good. I didn't think mini facials were that mini, lol!

Next I got my hair done and I had the perfect thing in mind. I've always wanted to try a head of curls. So I told her that's what I wanted and not an updo this time. I'm glad she asked me what I wanted to do with my hair first. I appreciate it even if I didn't know what I want. Then I'd just ask her to suggest something. But I hate it when someone just does something without asking me first and not letting me choose. That's what happened last time somewhere else, but it ended up looking ok, so I didn't feel mad afterwards.

There were many yummy cupcakes. I had 3 of them. I had an appetite for more, but I figured 3 was more than enough sugar for the day unless I planned to do super workout the next day. The Davids Tea-tinis were nice. But I think they could have been even better if they just added some sugar & ice. The vodka tasted strong too, so a little less vodka and ice would have cooled it off a little too. I only had one tea-tini, but I also drank a cup of the 2 different teas solo and they were nice. I'm used to fruity cocktails. Even if there's a strong alcohol content in it, the fruit juice makes it taste ok, but I just can't drink too many then to not get drunk.

There wasn't any pressure to buying anything of course. But they had a little discount on some of the travel sized packages which gives temptations. Kiehl's products are kind of expensive, but some of the stuff are really good to use. So for me, I'd only get specific products that I like/need, but wouldn't buy a whole large sized set of the many different products unless I had a fortune. But still I have enough stuff to use at home for now.

The little complimentary swag bag contained a mini sized facial cleanser and moisturizer and also 3 small samples of some other products. So I'm gonna try them out first and if they work well then I'll restock later. I think the cleanser and moisturizer were the same products they used in the min facial.

Almost all who showed up were females last night except for the DJ and I think I saw one other man who probably came with his girlfriend, but I don't think he got any pampering done. They didn't say specially that it was an all women's event, but I guess that's what was expected by many since these events are usually for women only. Hope the guys didn't feel too left out. They would qualify for the mini facial part, but probably not the hair and makeup part unless they really wanted. But of course men are always welcome to join their girlfriends at these types of events if it doesn't say specifically for women.

FFW Industry + Media Launch

It was a free event, but had to rsvp in advance to be on the guestlist to get in. It was held at the West hair salon on Queen St. W. It was a very nice place, but it was extremely hot that evening that the fans weren't very helpful. There was free water, beer and root beer & also mini cupcakes and poutine. There was a mini fashion show. Everyone who showed up were mostly all girls except for the photographers. There were girls who were bloggers, buyers and writers for fashion magazines and then there's a few random people like me who just enjoy events. But actually, sonner or later I can consider myself as a true blogger, when I get less lazy, blog more but with quality posts, get a domain and print some business cards. Then I can consider myself a real blogger. And I think I need to learn a little more about the Toronto fashion scene by reading some articles and attending a few more fashion shows. But for now I'm ok. I've already attended quite a few events.

I chatted with the salon owner. She was nice & I loved the purple dress she was wearing. She looks very young but mature. She's still in her 20's I think. I also chatted with a girl who's a jewelry designer which is very inspiring for me since I love making jewelry myself, but haven't pursued doing it as a real business and getting designs shown at fashion shows.....yet. Now I'm thinking about it, but will take a bit of time to pursue that.

It was a very nice and relaxing evening despite the head and sweating like a piggy. After the event I headed home and decided to get the FFW pass and attend all the events.

David Dixon Fashion Show at Ultra

ME & THE BARTENDER

Last night was the David Dixon fashion show at Ultra Patio. It was also a party to celebrate the launch of the "Industry Insider Magazine."

The show started with the special guest performance by ROCHESTER AKA JUICE singing some rap by himself, and then the models came on to the catwalk one by one in dazzling pieces. He sang throughout the entire fashion show as the background music for the fashion.

The dresses were mostly covered in black. They were very chic/hip/glamorous. It is the only DD designs I've seen so far in addition to the Barbie Collection at LGFW back in March. I especially liked the dress with the pockets. It looked really cool with the model comming out with her hands in the pockets of the dress. I think the pieces shown last night are probably a part of the collection he will be showing at a fashion week next season. I hope the models didn't feel too hot literally in the dresses as it was a lot of fabric for the hot summer weather.

There was a lot of people, but I still managed to get a pretty good view standing right in front of the catwalk and a little to the right side.

There were many fashion industry people of course. I recognized a few faces; a few photographers and a model or two. I recognized the girl with the cool mohawk hair whom I remember from FAT Alternative Fashion Week, but I didn't talk to her. I didn't talk to many people actually. I kinda just relaxed a bit. Other times I think I talk to much and kinda scare people, haha! I most talked to the photographers, especially the girl whom I met at LGFW. It was interesting to find out what they planned to do with their footage and where to submit them, etc...

There was a guy whom I thought I recognized. I thought he was the guy who did my hair a few days ago at the other party I attended. It was quite funny. Then he told me he designs handbags, etc... I thought he was joking coz I seriously thought he was the hair stylist guy. Good thing I asked him what his brand's name is. When I went home I kinda googled it and seems pretty cool. So I think I learned something. Check out Nella Bella. I think it's very cool that all the products are manmade and vegan. How SeXy is that?? & it's Canadian/he's Canadian.

As for the designer himself, I think I probably saw him but didn't know it. I was standing across from him at a viewable distance, but I didn't notice where he was standing until I later saw someone post a photo of him at the event.

My Fuze martini was half spilt coz some random guy bumped right into me & it got all over my shirt & skirt, sigh! He just said a very quick sorry, then turned around & left. People should watch where they are going and not be so pushy. I hate it when people don't watch where they are going especially if they walk backwards. Obviously they can't see where they are going when walking backwards unless they have eyes on the back of their head. This time I tried the pommergranate one with vodka this time. I've drank Fuze juice & Fuze martinis several times before. You can get the Fuze juice at the supermarket or even Shopper's Drugmart, & maybe Walmart. It's a natural health product because it contains some ingredients that are good for you; Chromium, Vitamin C, Garcina Cambogia Rind Extract, etc... It also helps increase your metabolism.

Flirty Girl's Night Out-A Pink Carpet Soiree

It was Flirty Girl Fitness' 4th Flirty Girl Night Out party although they had other similar, but slightly smaller scaled parties which I think were co-ed. It was my 2nd time attending Flirty Girls Nite Out. I think they have one of these about every four months now. The general price went up by a tiny bit ($5 more from last time). That's quite expensive to pay at the door which is $10 more than buying the ticket online prior. I suppose it was to offset some extra costs somwhere, maybe to provide more giftbags. I did notice some slight improvements such as having more appetizers. They had meatballs and cream chese on bread and some other stuff. Previously I think they only had crackers with dip. The food was sponsored, and the male servers are from Eligible Inc. which is a dating service. Actually there was slightly more swag in the giftbag this time too. However, if the price goes up again next time, that would really suck so they'd better not. But having attended twice and also some other similar events, I might not attend next time unless I can get a free tix. haha! I'm just saying that right now since I've attended two recently. But then a few months from now I'll probably be bored and want some more pampering, lol. It all depends if I'll be free on the next date. Maybe I'll sign up for some classes, get a punch card for several dropin classes for yoga, boxing, belly dancing, etc... just to get 2 free party tix offer. I always wanted to take some classes there, but somehow never got around to it yet. Hopefully I will soon.

The thing is, I really wished they had makeover services that would last past the night like brow shaping services eg. waxing, threading or tweezing. Manicures are okay, but how about pedicures? They definitely should have mini facials and a digital photo booth where you can take & upload a foto of your new makeover. So if you forget your camera and don't go to the afterparty, at least you'd have a good reason to get all madeup for. To offset more costs they could let in a few more vendors too. But then it does seem a little crowded already. Just some suggestions in my opinion.

Last time I was there I arrived late & didn't get any pampering after waiting in line for several hours, but I did sip a few drinks, watched a few performances and chatted with some fab girls and the swag bag at the end kinda made up for it so I didn't complain. This time I was smarter and I lined up right when the whole thing started. Well, I was late 10 minutes to lineup for the pampering because I was walking around and talking to people and went to the toilet. So I ended up getting my nails filed & coloured by Spa Treatment, a nice quick hair updo by Blo, and an eye makeup application by Sephora, etc... I had wanted some sexy curls, but the guy from Blo wanted to do something else so I let him.

I didn't really watch much of the dance shows, but they were amazing of course, especially the one to the "All The Single Ladies" Beyonce song towards the end. I missed watching the fashion show in full view because I was lining up. All I saw were the heads of the models, but I saw all the photos after. I did see more of the dancing as there were slightly less people crowding around the performance area. The fashion show was 3/4ths to the end of the party and many people were tired of lining up and fled the lines to see the fashion show.

The fashion show was by Joy Couture & United Front. It was my first time hearing about United Front, but I've been to several of Joy's fashion shows before & she always have nice stuff. I love her dresses. United Front displayed some tshirts which had nice/cool logos but it'd be more interesting if they did something with the fabric. It looked a bit too simple. The fashion show was a bit short, but it's always like that b/c it's just a small part of the whole event. But overall the show was ok.

I think that this time it was organized a bit better than last time as they had guys handing out drinks while we were lining up for the pampering. Last time we had to get the drinks ourselves at the bar and we had to lineup for that too. So what some of us girls did was send a girl to grab a few drinks back and then got back into line. Complimentary drinks are always good because you don't want to spend a fortune when you get thirsty especially when you already have to pay an entry fee to get in.

The hand/arm massage from Arbon was a bit short because you had to choose between getting your hands done or your arms, but not both. I think they did that to save time and be more fair to let more girls get their turn. But I really liked the gel they used on my hands. I don't know what was in it, but it smelled really good. I think Aveda was there to do arm treatments too, but I didn't get to check that out. It was so little time, too many people. Pink Petals jewelry was there as a vendor. They have some nice stuff too and I see them at almost every event I go to.

The Sephora line was very long and I didn't think I would make it to the front by the end of the event, but luckily I did and got my eyes madeup. They didn't do a full makeup application probably to save time also. Last time they did do full makeup applications by some other company which I can't remember since it was several months ago. Well I think it's better to be fair and let more people get a turn to get pampered.

All that pampering only lasts one night. The manicure may last a few days more. But it still feels good to get pampered and it was good being surrounded by other fabulous girls as well. There was an afterparty at a nightclub near by. This time it was at Dolce Social Ballroom & last time at Century Room. I skipped the afterparty and headed to another club Tryst where the Playboy Golf Casting was held, but I didn't stay long and went home to get some beauty sleep.

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Frugal Fashion Week 2010

FFW 2010 is comming up next weekend from Thurs July 22-Sun July 25.

Save with Frugal Fashion Week with My FFW 2010 All Access Pass which is now only $35, down from $55 previously! The Special Gala held at the Bata Shoe Museum is already $25, so you'll save a great deal. Sale of the pass ends on July 22 which is the openning day of FFW.

This is still a relatively new event as this is only in its second year thus far. So bring your friends, especially the gal pals for the first pampering event at Kiehl's and help spread the word of Frugal Fabulousness! Get pampered, sip, shop and relax while watching a few fashion shows. I think that this festival will gain more popularity each year as more people learn about it. It is mid summer when many people are on vacation and out of town too, but I think it's great to have FFW during the summer since there doesn't seem to be as many major fashion related events at this time, although there are always mini fashion shows happenning all the time.

The openning event will be The Kiehl's Uptown Beauty Boutique launch party which is to be held at Kiehl's at Yonge & Eglinton (not the one on Spadina & Queen St.). At the event, you'll get mini facials, makeovers, beauty advice, cupcakes and giftbags courtesy of Kiehl's and Teatinis by David's Tea!

I'll post some fotos of the events later after I've attended them all.

Free tickets to Special taping of Richard St. John’s “The 8 Traits Successful People Have In Common: 8 To Be great”

Want to know the secrets of how to become successful in work, school and life? Come listen to Richard St. John talk about his book and secrets. He is a Success analyst, Speaker, and Author of '8 TO BE GREAT' and 'Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and Rich.'

Tickets are offered on a first come first serve basis by Free TV Taping Tickets of MTV Canada.

He will be taping a promotional video based on his book The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common: 8 To Be Great.

Tickets are FREE!
TIME: Thursday, August 5, 2010; 6pm.
VENUE: Isabel Bader Theatre (93 Charles St. W, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C7)
Sign in will be from 5-5:45 and the show will begin at 6PM.
(Please note everyone must be over the age of 16. NO EXCEPTIONS.)

You MUST reserve tickets for this engagement and they will book up fast so request your FREE tickets now by emailing tix@sjohn.com with the following information:

- Your first and last name
- Email address
- Phone number with voicemail (should we need to confirm any changes/require further info)
- Number of tickets requested (NO strict ticket limit but PLEASE request only what you will use!)

"Richard is a world-renowned success expert, author, speaker, and business guru. He started with nothing, achieved business success and became a millionaire. Then he spent ten years doing face-to-face interviews with 500 of the world’s most successful people, including Bill Gates, Martha Stewart, Richard Branson, and the Google founders. He discovered what led to their success and wrote the bestseller 8 To Be Great.

Richard’s talks are in high demand and always leave people buzzing. He shares an incredible wealth of wisdom from the world's most successful people – knowledge that you can apply to your own success in business and in life."